Actor Don Knotts Dies at Age of 81

2-25-06 - LOS ANGELES (AP) - Don Knotts, best known as Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show," is being remembered by the show's namesake as a man with a brilliant comedic mind.

Griffith, who remained close friends with the actor, says "we had a long and wonderful life together."

Griffith describes Knotts as "a small man." But he says "everything else about him was large." And he says that included "his mind, his expressions." As Griffith puts it, "Don was special. There's nobody like him. "

The man who played Deputy Fife's boss, Sheriff Andy Taylor, says "I loved him very much."

A spokesman for the cable network TV Land says Knotts died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at a Los Angeles hospital.

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